Housing backlog stands at 500 000

PEOPLE MUST DO MORE FOR THEMSELVES Protests are being initiated to make it look as if government is doing nothing, says Mashatile.

The RDP housing backlog in Gauteng is a worrying half a million, human settlements MEC Paul Mashatile said yesterday. Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Citizen on the sidelines of the International Nelson Mandela Day commemorations, Mashatile said although the backlog was worrying, the provincial government was doing all it could to ensure that the issue was addressed.

Gauteng has, since April, been gripped by violent protests over service delivery issues, which started in Ennerdale, Eldorado Park and Orange Farm.

Last week alone, law enforcers were forced to deal with community protests that were taking place every day.

However, Mashatile strongly believes that while many concerns of service delivery are genuine, some protests have been instigated.

“It is not as if government is just sitting and doing nothing to improve the lives of its citizens, hence some of these protests are instigated by people who are just seeking attention.

“Government is doing a lot and people must also learn to do things for themselves … people can’t just wake up and demand and demand, but government is planning and working with communities and we will attend to issues raised by residents.

“But we are aware that there are people who are just going around instigating protests to make it look as if government is doing nothing,” Mashatile said.

In Drieziek, south of Johannesburg, where Mashatile and premier David Makhura spent their 67 minutes as part of the International Nelson Mandela day yesterday, Mashatile said the provincial government was busy with the construction of 1 000 houses, which were scheduled to be completed there by March next year.

“We, therefore, want to appeal to the community to work with government, because we want people to also participate in the building of their own houses and we are working with different private companies in improving the lives of citizens.

“As part of our 67 minutes of service, we want to complete the building of 67 houses by Friday and the remainder by next year,” he said.

While pleading for patience from communities, Mashatile said government would also be making land available in some of the other areas to ensure that people are able to build their own houses.

“We are also building mega projects where 10 000 houses per project will be built, which is huge, and we also want to call on young people to participate voluntarily so that they can also acquire skills .

“We are turning Gauteng into a construction site and, yes, we have a huge housing backlog. But we are getting there and let every day be a Nelson Mandela Day,” Mashatile said.